Top 10 things that make 360 feedback great

By Natalie Burns
|
29 June, 2015

Top 10 things that make 360 feedback great

By Natalie Burns
|
29 June, 2015

The Team at Carbon360 obviously think 360 reviews are brilliant, otherwise we would all find ourselves another job! That's why we decided to put together our Top Ten reasons* to love 360 appraisals.

*And yes, we also love making lists!

1. Ease of use

Online 360 degree reviews are incredibly simple to roll out. With simple set-up and automation, there’s no paperwork involved (unless of course you want to print your instantly generated reports) as the system keeps track of everything for you.

2. Results

360 feedback gives you detailed information on how an employee works, their personal skills, behaviours and practices. This gives each employee a good idea of what their strengths and weaknesses are and what they should be focusing on. It also gets them engaged - everyone likes a bit of self-analysis!

3. Perspective

The feedback gained from a 360 review brings a huge amount of perspective to how an employee works. With multiple sources, each employee gains a greater insight into how their perceptions of themselves differ from the perceptions of those around them. This can highlight blind spots as well as weaknesses and strengths that they may not have known they had.

4. Satisfaction

We all like to feel appreciated. Staff are loyal, engaged and productive when they know they are important to the company. 360 degree reviews are a great way of acknowledging the skills and work of each employee individually, making them feel valued and more satisfied in their job, which aids staff retention. It’s also a great way of getting them involved in setting themselves challenging goals and targets.

5. Growth

The data gathered in a review can be extremely useful in helping each employee to grow within the company. By becoming aware of their own strengths and weaknesses, employees start to think about the best way to apply them within the company as well as getting the opportunity discuss their ideas. Use feedback to inform your personal development plans, which brings us on to...

6. Ownership

By taking an interest in self-development, employees take ownership of their career progression, goals and performance. 360 degree reviews combined with a set of on-going goals and targets for each individual lead to a more engaged and motivated workforce.

Giving employees’ ownership means they feel a sense of attainable career progression. By asking your staff what they would like to achieve, you have a better idea of skills and aspirations that can be taken into account during the recruitment process and internal hiring, as well as aiding staff retention.

7. Connection

By gaining a clear insight into how an employee works and by setting and monitoring appropriate, challenging and achievable goals, you help employees feel connected to their own progression. In turn this helps connect employee’s goals and performance to their role. Doing this illustrates how they fit into the company as a whole, and highlights that their input is important to the company’s success.

8. Trust

Trust is a key element in any 360 degree review. You need to make clear that feedback will be anonymous at the very start of the process. By retaining anonymity and confidentiality you provide the best setting for honest and open feedback. This can then feed into the results and employee development. It’s important for employees to have belief in the system so you can avoid the pitfalls of discrimination and bias, and you ensure the feedback you receive is accurate and truthful.

9. Communication

The use of a 360 degree reviews in the workplace improves trust, honesty, and means that employees feel valued. It also improves self-awareness which means better communication within each team. Employees then feel they are appreciated and working towards meaningful goals, and are much more likely to communicate with their managers. Also, confidentiality and anonymity mean employees feel relaxed and confident enough to seek help should they have any issues to discuss. Without using 360-appraisals, these issues can often otherwise go unnoticed.

10. Progress

360 degree reviews give HR the ability to track each individual employee’s progress over time. With historical data available to compare trends across departments or to look at individual progress over time, it’s easy to see how each employee and the business as a whole is improving.

360 feedback also highlights areas of weakness within the company. It gives you not only results on an individual basis, but also a broader overview of how the company and the teams within it are working.

If you have any questions, comments, or think we have missed anything off our top ten, then please do get in touch.